Cable television systems employ a network of devices (e.g., network elements) for delivering television programming to paying subscribers, typically by way of radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables and/or light pulses through fiber-optic cables. Other services provided by cable television systems include high-speed Internet, home security, and telephone. Multiple television channels are distributed to subscriber residences from a “headend”. Typically, each television channel is translated to a different frequency at the headend, giving each channel a different frequency “slot” so that the television signals do not interfere with one another. At the subscriber's residence, a desired channel is selected with the user's equipment (e.g., a cable modem (CM), a set-top box, a television, a computer, etc., collectively referred to herein as “user equipment”, or UE) and displayed on a screen. These are referred to as the “downstream” channels in a cable television system. “Upstream” channels in the system send data from the UE to the headend for various reasons including pay-per-view requests, Internet uploads, and cable telephone service.
With the various forms of UEs, device protocols, content deliveries, and networks, data control has become exceptionally complex and difficult. For example, coordinating content deliveries from multiple independently operating network elements to an individual UE in a cable television network creates multiple layers of messaging and unbalanced traffic flows which can congest portions of the network.